THE NEW YORKER Silvio Drown, more than any other one man, who brought disappearing within the reach of the slenderest purse. I T was in the spring of 1935 that Drown made his coup: scarcely a year after the startling and significant disappearance of General Griff. By midsummer the entire populace was throwing itself fervently into the great disappearance movement. By Christ- mas there was scarcely a home that had not felt its effects. As the movement gained momen- tum, striking changes in the social and economic structure became apparent: especially in those vast urban centres where, of course, it achieved its wild- est popularity. New York, decimated again and again, dwindled rapidly to a bustling provincial town and then to a scattered but thriving village. The main thoroughfares were still kept open for the use of such vehicular traffic as there was; but in the side-streets kitchen-gardens multiplied, with here and there a little orchard. Goats roamed once more in Harlem, attracted (according to a local wag) by the rich store of phonograph discs and saxo- phones in which the region abounded. The complete disappearance of all cur- rency necessitated the institution of a system of barter. Thus, a half-pound of butter carried one (on the infrequent train) as far as Scarsdale; for a sack of potatoes one could ride to Albany (but few cared to). In the subway, which still fulfilled its traditional function, the accepted fare became a banana, a new-laid egg, a package of chewing gum, or an autographed first edition of Michael Arlen. A lIttle band of Nature-loving ladies discovered that an automobile filled with rich, brown earth made a charming flower box, and so thousands of abandoned motor-cars were dragged from deserted garages, ïnd arranged along the streets; and soon the gay enamels were eclipsed by the bright pageantry of a myriad blossoms. The great archway of the Municipal Building became a huge grape-arbor and, in the autumn, young men and women pressed the bursting fruit and City Hall Park was the scene of a lusty bacchanal. In the uphol- stered seats of Roxy's-once a popular motion-picture theatre-meadow larks nested and, in the early morning, filled the vast hall with the melody. A Virginia creeper twined and twined about the spire of the Chrysler Build- ing until, from afar, it seemed a great roaring flame. Wall Street, carpeted _.. ((1 hear Gigli took off two pounds this summer." f ..... r ;: . ::-' . "._j.' ,iP;f'....:t;.. ;: :;l . . with grass, became a communal bowl- ing green. It was an age of peace. O N April 22, 193Î, Pat;ick Jannis was milking his cows in what had once been the reading-room of the Poi- son Gas and Chemical Warfare Club. The sound of the military tread made him raise his eyes. In the doorway stood a figure that he could not fail to recog- nize: the martlal form of General A. Livingston Griff. The next moment the truth flashed upon J annis-the General had reappeared! Springing to his feet, he dashed past the General and rushed into the street to spread the news all over New Yark. Some tried to dismiss the incident as of no conse- quence, but the sager ones saw its full significance. They knew that it was the beginning of the end. The next afternoon "Charlie" U t- teridge, the ex-tennis star, and Mrs. 25 . '>V 4-. :, " '#. " "":: """", , ;#Æ 'l,J ,ff:.WtiJ. ::; l ,':.;':::: ,) ,:" " :.=;:;::;: "'f. : ;':-:-: W t. \"'.:. ,0.: '........,;,., -..g..;. ; , E tta Selig, his fiancée, demanded ad- mittance to the little tannery that had once been the San Gemignano Dainties Shop. The following Monday, Mrs. Zenita Sisterlake, accompanied by three of her weekend guests, actually rode down Fifth Avenue in an automo- bile in broad daylight. The back of the disappearance movement was bro- ken. A few desperate souls tried to stave off the reaction, but lt was futile; the tide had swung about. Money began to make its appearance again; wheels turned. Within six months barracks were being erected in Central Park to afford temporary housing for the reappearing multitude. In January, 1938, it was decided to demolish the Chanin, Lincoln, and Empire State Buildings in order to make room for modern skyscrapers. An era had ended. -ELMER RICE